Mike Couchee

Michael Eugene Couchee

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
• School San Jose City College, San Diego State University, University of Southern California
• High School Los Gatos High School
• Debut April 5, 1983
• Final Game May 17, 1983
• Born December 4, 1957 in San Jose, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Pitcher Mike Couchee was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 19th round of the 1980 amateur draft and earned a cup of coffee in the majors in 1983, logging a 5.14 ERA in eight games. Though his major league career was brief, Couchee played professionally for eight seasons from 1980-1987. In the minor league portion of his career, he had a 34-26 record with 58 saves and an ERA of 3.87.

After his playing career, Couchee was pitching coach of the Tulsa Drillers from 1986-1987. He next joined the California Angels organization for 15 years. He was pitching coach of the Quad City Angels in 1988 and AZL Angels in 1989 and 1991-1992 (at least), then spent 1993-2002 as the Angels' Minor League Pitching Coordinator. On August 6 1996, Couchee took over as the major league bullpen coach following the resignation of manager Marcel Lachemann and the reassignment of three coaches. Returning to the Padres organization, he was pitching coach for the Portland Beavers in 2003 and from 2004-2011 he was the Padres' Minor League Pitching Coordinator.

Couchee moved to the San Francisco Giants chain as pitching coach of the AZL Giants in 2012 and San Jose Giants in 2013-2017. Under Couchee's guidance, the San Jose Giants led the California League in ERA twice over five seasons. The 2015 Giants pitching staff also set a team record and led all of Minor League baseball with 1,345 strikeouts. During this portion of his Giants career, Couchee also served as a pitching coach for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League on four occasions - 2012, 2014-2015, and 2017. Usually coaches only serve in the AFL once in their career. Couchee spent the next five years at the rookie ball level. He was pitching coach of the AZL Giants Orange in 2018-2019 and ACL Giants Black in 2021-2022. He was slated to coach the AZL Giants Black in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the minor league season.

Couchee's career changed course after 2022. He moved to the independent leagues in 2023 as bench coach for the Lake Country DockHounds where his stay was very brief. After a 2-6 start to the season, on May 22nd manager Jim Bennett and the team agreed to a mutual separation and coaches Couchee and Bruce Hines departed at the same time. Couchee's next coaching stop was in Australia as a coach for the Canberra Cavalry during the 2024/2025 season where he was reunited with Cavalry manager Jim Bennett.